Build the process, not just the endpoint

Our new Perspective in Communications Biology asks a central question: can better liver models emerge when we reconstruct how the liver develops, rather than imitate selected features of an adult organ?

Ken-ichiro Kamei presents Reverse Bioengineering as a development-first design framework. Stem cells provide developmental potential, organoids enable self-organization, and microfluidic systems control the surrounding environment. The challenge is to coordinate these complementary capabilities across time and space.

What the Perspective explores

• Developmental trajectories as references for engineering design and quantitative benchmarking.
• Timed biological signals, vascularization, perfusion, and mechanical cues.
• Coordinated multi-organ models and the future role of multi-omics, Digital Twins, and AI.

This is a conceptual roadmap, not a report of a completed clinical platform. It outlines priorities for more informative disease models, drug discovery, and toxicity testing.